The USA Women’s National Hockey Team came away with their first gold medal since the sport was introduced to the games in 1998, beating Canada in the final round on February 22 in a 3-2 nail-biting shootout. Chief among those responsible for the team’s historic win is none other than Irish American Maddie Rooney (right), Team USA’s 20-year-old goalie. She made 29 saves through overtime in the game, so many, in fact, that her position on Wikipedia was briefly updated to “United States Secretary of Defense.”

Born and raised in Andover, Minnesota, Rooney began playing at age 9. By the time she was a senior in high school, she was playing for the boys’ team and had racked up a .910 save percentage. She was added to the national team roster last March and currently plays for the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

“I just took each player one at a time,” Rooney told ESPN. “When it came down to one shooter to win it, I just said, ‘It’s one more save, and then it’s a gold medal.’” ♦

One Response to “USA Women’s Hockey Team Wins Gold with a Rooney at the Goal”

This article about a women’s hockey team reminds me of the young ladies’ camofie team from Chicago that went to Canada to play a local team about a month after the destruction of the Twin Towers on 9/11/2001. On their return trip, U.S. Border Guards boarded the train at the U.S. Border. Six members of the team had EXPIRED visitors’ visas and were put on a train for Logan Airport in Boston to be DEPORTED It is very possible that some of these camogie players had at least one relative who had HONORABLY served in the U.S. military within the previous century or two. .